Frequently Asked Questions

Nova Publishers has four fixed-price packages: Launch at $999, Launch Pro at $1,899, Signature at $3,799 and Elite at $5,499. Launch is the ebook package: copy editing and proofreading, an ebook cover, ebook formatting, an ISBN and listings on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Apple Books. Launch Pro adds the full edit, a print cover, print typesetting and distribution to 20,000+ retailers and libraries. Signature ($3,799) adds an audiobook and marketing, and Elite ($5,499) adds a book trailer and trade reviews. The price is set once you accept your quote.

No, Nova Publishers quotes once, before any work starts, and the price in your quote is the price you pay for the whole project, including the agreed revision rounds and every call along the way.

Nova Publishers takes payment upfront in full, by card or bank wire through our bank merchants. Packages over $5,000, such as Elite at $5,499, can be split into milestone payments, and the schedule is written into your quote before you pay anything.

Yes, with Nova Publishers you keep your copyright and every right to your book, including audio, translation and film rights. Nova takes no ownership of the book, and your files and listings stay yours if you ever leave.

Nova Publishers sets your book up in your own KDP, IngramSpark, Barnes & Noble and other retailer accounts, so the accounts, the listings and the royalty payments are in your name from day one.

Your book stays on sale if you stop working with Nova Publishers, because the retailer accounts, the listings and your files are yours. You can keep selling it, update it yourself or come back to Nova for a new edition later.

Yes, and with Nova Publishers you keep 100% of those rights. Translation and film rights are sold separately from print and ebook rights, usually through a rights agent, and Nova takes no share of them.

No, Nova Publishers is a publishing services company, so it doesn't pay advances. You pay for production once, keep every retailer royalty and reach retailers in weeks rather than years.

With Nova Publishers you keep 100% of the royalties retailers pay, and they're paid straight into your own retailer accounts, not through Nova. The one exception is a sale through Nova's own bookstore or mobile app, where you get 70% of the net proceeds and Nova keeps 30%. What each sale earns depends on the retailer's own rates: Amazon Kindle, for example, pays 35% or 70% depending on the price, and print royalties are a share of the list price minus the printing cost.

No, Nova Publishers charges a fixed fee for the work and takes no percentage of the royalties Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books or any other retailer pays you. Retailers pay those royalties straight into your own accounts. The one exception is a sale through Nova's own bookstore or mobile app, where you get 70% of the net proceeds and Nova keeps 30%.

Directly: with Nova Publishers, Amazon, IngramSpark and the other retailers pay your royalties straight into your own accounts, so your retailer earnings never pass through Nova.

Yes for print editions, and Nova Publishers includes ISBN setup in every package. An ISBN is the number retailers and libraries use to identify one edition of a book, and each format (paperback, hardcover, ebook) needs its own. Audiobooks on Audible use an ASIN instead.

By default Nova Publishers registers your book under Nova's ISBN, which starts with 978-1-969890, and the copyright page reads "Published by Nova Publishers". If you'd rather own the ISBN, you can buy your own and we'll use it; the credit then reads "Production by Nova Publishers".

Yes, Nova Publishers appears as the publisher when your book uses Nova's ISBN, and the copyright page reads "Published by Nova Publishers". If you buy your own ISBN, the credit reads "Production by Nova Publishers" instead.

At Nova Publishers, Launch takes 4 to 6 weeks, Launch Pro 8 to 12 weeks, Signature 12 to 18 weeks and Elite 14 to 20 weeks, counted from the accepted quote and payment. Longer manuscripts and heavier edits sit at the top of each range.

Nova Publishers works in four stages: editing, design (cover and interior), production (ISBN, metadata and retail files) and distribution to retailers. You get tracked changes after each edit and approve every stage before the next one starts.

Send Nova Publishers your manuscript, or whatever part of it exists, through the contact page or to connect@thenovap.com. We reply within 1 business day with a fixed quote. Once you accept and pay, you upload the manuscript through your author dashboard and editing begins.

Nova Publishers works best with a Word document (.docx): double spacing, a 12-point standard font, consistent chapter breaks and track changes turned off. Google Docs and Scrivener files exported to .docx are fine. Please don't send the manuscript as a PDF, because editors need to mark up the file directly.

Yes, Nova Publishers works with many first-time authors. The process starts with a free call or the free readiness check to see where your manuscript stands, then a fixed quote, and a project manager runs every stage after that.

No, Nova Publishers works directly with authors, so you don't need an agent. Agents sell manuscripts to traditional publishers, which is a different route.

It's your call. Many agents and traditional publishers prefer a book that hasn't been published yet, so if an agent is reading your manuscript now, it usually makes sense to finish that conversation first. A quote from Nova Publishers is free and doesn't commit you to anything, so you can get one now and decide once you've heard back.

Yes, Nova Publishers helps authors who published on KDP add a print edition, reach bookstores and libraries through IngramSpark, add an audiobook, or relaunch with a new edit and cover. If you own your ISBN, we can often keep using it.

Yes, Nova Publishers can update your book after it's published. Ebook updates go live through Amazon and Apple Books soon after you approve them. Print updates are slower because they require a new file upload, and a substantive change needs a fresh ISBN. Common reasons authors update: typo fixes, bonus content for a second edition, or a refreshed cover.

No, Nova Publishers can publish your book whether you're a sole proprietor or a company. An LLC can make sense once book income grows, mostly for liability and tax reasons, so talk to a CPA before forming one.

Every Nova Publishers package lists your book on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Apple Books, in your own accounts. Launch Pro and above also make it orderable by 20,000+ retailers and libraries through IngramSpark, including Kobo and Google Play Books. Audiobooks go to Audible, Apple Books, Spotify and library platforms.

Nova Publishers lists your book with Barnes & Noble, and from Launch Pro makes it orderable by 20,000+ retailers and libraries, so any bookstore can order it for a reader or for its shelves. Each store chooses which books it stocks, and a launch plan, local events and reader requests all help.

Yes, from Launch Pro Nova Publishers lists your book through IngramSpark, the wholesale catalog public and academic libraries buy from, so any library can order it. Audiobooks can also reach library platforms like OverDrive and Hoopla.

Yes, Nova Publishers lists your book on every Amazon storefront through your own KDP account, and Launch Pro and above add IngramSpark's international distribution. Apple Books and Google Play cover most other markets.

Yes, Nova Publishers works with authors outside the US. Prices are in US dollars, and your card or bank may add a currency conversion fee. Your book is listed on Amazon.co.uk and the other Amazon stores through your own KDP account, and from Launch Pro, IngramSpark distribution lets shops in the UK and elsewhere, such as Waterstones, order it. Nova's ISBN is used by default, or you can use one from your own country's ISBN agency. Our call hours are 9 am to 12 pm US Eastern Time.

Yes, at Nova Publishers your book is edited by people on Nova's in-house editing team, and you get tracked changes after each editing stage so you can see every change. The tools Nova's own dev team builds only check manuscripts and handle admin.

No, Nova Publishers doesn't use AI to write or edit books, and people on Nova's in-house editing team edit every manuscript. IRIS, a tool built by Nova's own dev team, only scans manuscripts and automates admin. Nova doesn't use your manuscript to train AI models or license it to anyone for that purpose.

Launch includes Nova Publishers' copy edit and proofread. Launch Pro and Signature add the flow, pacing and continuity edit and a line edit. Elite adds a dedicated developmental edit plus a final proofread before files go to print.

Yes, Nova Publishers offers a paid manuscript evaluation, done by a human editor. Send your manuscript and Nova Publishers will reply within 1 business day with a quote.

Each editing layer at Nova Publishers includes one editor pass and one revision pass after your rewrite. Covers get 2 concepts and 1 revision round on Launch, and 3 concepts and 2 rounds from Launch Pro up. Interior layout gets 2 rounds after the first typeset proof. Extra rounds are quoted before we start.

Yes, Nova Publishers has separate in-house teams for fiction, nonfiction and the main genres, and matches your book with editors who know its conventions, from picture books and memoir to business nonfiction and fantasy.

Nova Publishers' cover process starts with a creative brief covering genre, comparable titles, mood and visual references. The designer presents 3 concept directions on Launch Pro and above, or 2 on Launch. You pick one, then get 2 rounds of revision on Launch Pro and above, or 1 on Launch, until the cover is final. Launch Pro and above get a print-ready full wrap plus ebook and thumbnail versions; Launch, which is ebook only, gets the ebook cover.

Yes, Nova Publishers coordinates illustration for children's picture books and illustrated memoirs as part of the design stage, matching illustrators to the age group and style. Illustration is quoted separately, because page count and complexity drive the cost.

Yes, Nova Publishers produces audiobooks with a human narrator from $2,800 or an AI voice from $1,800. Signature and Elite include audiobook production, and any package can add it. We handle narrator casting or voice selection, recording, ACX-standard mastering and distribution to Audible, Apple Books, Spotify and other stores.

Audiobook production at Nova Publishers starts at $2,800 with a human narrator and $1,800 with an AI voice. The final price depends on the length of the finished recording; a typical 60,000-word book runs about 6.5 finished hours.

Yes, Nova Publishers handles marketing from Launch Pro, which includes a launch marketing plan, a press release and 30 days of post-launch support. Signature adds a podcast booking campaign, three months of Amazon Ads management, an author website and a social launch kit. Elite adds extended marketing with a $500 ad credit and Kirkus and BookLife trade review submissions. Kirkus and BookLife review fees are included in the Elite price.

Nova Publishers doesn't sell bestseller status, but it gives your book the strongest start it can have: a professional edit, a cover made for your genre, clean files and listings set up so readers can find it. From Launch Pro, a launch plan and press release help it reach readers, and Signature and Elite add podcasts, Amazon Ads and trade reviews. Sales then depend on the book and the marketing behind it.

An ARC (advance reader copy) is an early copy of your book that Nova Publishers helps you send to readers and reviewers 8 to 12 weeks before launch, so reviews are ready on launch day. Early reviews help readers trust a new book.

Nova Publishers keeps your book live in your own accounts for as long as you want it there, and you can add marketing, an audiobook or a new edition at any time. Most first books build slowly, and a second and third book often help sell the first one.

With Nova Publishers, self-publishing means you pay one fixed fee for professional editing, design and distribution, and you keep the rights and the royalties. A traditional publisher pays an advance instead, keeps most of the royalties and the rights for years, and accepts very few manuscripts, usually through an agent.

Nova Publishers is a book publishing services company, which some people call a hybrid publisher. You pay one fixed fee for editing, design, formatting and distribution, and you keep your rights, your manuscript and 100% of your retailer royalties.

You pay Nova Publishers one fixed fee for the editing, design, formatting and distribution work, your book is published in your own retailer accounts under your name, and you keep your rights and 100% of your retailer royalties.

Yes, Nova Publishers publishes Christian and religious nonfiction, history, business books, memoir, poetry, children's books and reference titles alongside fiction, and matches each book with editors who know its conventions. You can see examples in the Nova bookstore.

Yes, but rarely: Nova Publishers declines projects that break its content standards (hate speech, harmful misinformation, plagiarism) and projects that need far more work than the author wants to do.

Nova Publishers is based in Virginia, USA, and works with authors worldwide by phone, email and video call.

No, Nova Publishers (thenovap.com) is a separate company from Nova Science Publishers (novapublishers.com), the academic publisher. Nova Publishers is a book publishing services company for independent authors, based in Virginia, USA, and started in 2024.